opinion

Your feedback is needed: Where do you get information on markets?

2017 has been a year of changes for Agweek. In the pages of the magazine, online at agweek.com and on AgweekTV this year, you have seen new stories, information, commentaries, contributors and columnists — and we hope you have enjoyed the changes. It certainly has been a year of growth and changes for me. In March, I joined the Agweek team as editor.

I grew up on a farm near Finley, N.D., where my dad raised wheat, barley, soybeans, sunflowers and edible beans over his 34 years of farming. My husband and I are based in Mayville, N.D., but farm much of the same land that he did, raising soybeans and corn. We have two children, Maysa, age 11, and Jayd, age 7.

Prior to joining Agweek, I worked in marketing and communications for 19 years, most recently at Amity Technology, a Fargo, N.D., sugar beet equipment manufacturer. Jumping into the media world was a new challenge for me and quite the change of pace. Over the past nine months, I have learned many new things about being a good editor and expanded my agriculture expertise as well.

It's important to me to give Agweek readers varied stories and the best information about agriculture each week. Looking ahead, 2018 will give us more opportunity for improvements to Agweek.

One area we continually improve is the Markets section in Agweek. Markets have been printed since the beginning of Agweek in 1985. Over the years, technology has provided opportunities for farmers and ranchers to get market information more often than once per week.

Last year at this time, Agweek reduced the number of markets we print. Smartphones and internet access give up-to-the-minute numbers on markets. This year, we added the Agweek app as a markets option and have continued to print three pages of market information for those who may not have access to the internet or a smartphone.

This leads to a question for all of you — How do you get your market information? How do you make your buying and selling decisions based on this information? Do you reference the Markets section in the print version Agweek to make those decisions? Email me at leah.larson@agweek.com and let me know how you get market information for your farm or ranch. There are no wrong answers, and I would love to hear from you.

Thank you for being loyal Agweek subscribers and readers, in the magazine or online at agweek.com, and for watching AgweekTV weekly across our region. We look forward to continually improving and growing Agweek for you, and I look forward to your feedback on markets.